The perpetual calendar complication and legibility go hand-in-hand in the new H. Moser & Cie. watch, the Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Tantalum Blue Enamel. Crafted in a new, rare material Tantalum, the other highlight of the watch is its “Grand Feu” enamel dial.
The case of the watch is made with tantalum, known to be one of the rarest metals that is also hard, malleable, ductile, and has anti-corrosive properties. Choosing the rare metal for the watch carries a personal touch for the CEO of H. Moser & Cie., Edouard Meylan: “When I was 18, my parents gave me my first Haute Horology watch, which was made from tantalum. Ever since then, I have dreamed of introducing this metal at H. Moser & Cie., in spite of the challenges it poses. It took more than two years of testing before we were able to polish the surfaces of our case, a feat that few have been able to match, with most preferring to sandblast or satin-finish tantalum”.
The 42mm tantalum case exhibits the ombré “Grand Feu” enamel dial in shades of Abyss Blue that can be seen through the curved sapphire crystal. The dial appears to be hammered and is crafted over a gold base with pigments of blue crushed and blended together by heating in a furnace twelve times. The process gives the signature H. Moser & Cie fumé effect to the dial. The indices and brand logo are absent on the dial to give a clear view of the minimal and beautiful dial, making it recognisable even without the brand name. Indices are only marked at 12 and 6 o’clock. At 9 o’clock lies the power reserve indicator that extends to at least 7 days, while the small seconds is placed at 6 o’clock without a subdial, a facet seen in Endeavour Perpetual Calendar timepieces. At 3 o’clock lies the date window with the ‘Flash Calendar’ function to indicate instant date change at midnight. Leaf-shaped hands at the centre show minutes and hours along with a small arrow-shaped hand that indicates the month. On the movement side lies the leap year indicator, and the steel crown engraved with the letter “M” allows for easy adjustments for the time and date.
The watch is powered by hand-wound HMC 800 Manufacture calibre that can be seen through the steel caseback capped with sapphire crystal. The watch comes with hand-stitched grey kudu leather with a steel folding clasp with an engraved Moser logo.
Images: Coutresy H. Moser & Cie.